This invention relates to lubricants used in automobile engines and similar equipment. More particularly, it relates to a novel additive concentrate designed to be added to an ordinary crankcase motor oil to improve its ability to lubricate and protect the engine.
As the internal combustion engines used in automobiles have increased in sophistication and power, the demands made on the crankcase motor oil used in these engines have increased proportionately. Modern gasoline engine oils must meet American Petroleum Institute (API) service rating "SF", a designation which requires the oil to pass a stringent sequence of engine tests to measure its ability to lubricate the engine and reduce corrosion, varnish, and sludge deposits. An "SF" oil will contain a highly refined petroleum or synthetic lubricant base oil which is fortified by antiwear and lubricity additives, detergents and dispersants, rust and corrosion inhibitors antioxidants, antifoam, seal conditioners, pour point depressants and the like. Whereas new oil will contain sufficient additives to meet engine requirements, many of these additives such as the antiwear agents, detergent/dispersants and corrosion inhibitors, are gradually depleted when the oil is in service. The problem is accentuated by the longer oil change inervals that are now common. At one time, motor oils were routinely changed after two or three thousand miles of driving. Today, a drain interval of 7500 miles is a common recommendation of automobile manufacturers, and many drivers tend to put off oil changes even further, with the result that the oil may become seriously depleted of necessary additives, and its ability to protect the engine may be seriously compromised.
A partial solution to this problem is the use of oil additive concentrates, which supplement and enhance the effectiveness of the additive system already present in the used oil. Such oil additive concentrates, added to the crankcase at a treatment level of about 5 to 15% of the regular oil, may replace depleted additives in the original oil and/or introduce new ones. Just as it has been constantly necessary to upgrade crankcase motor oil formulations to satisfy the increasing demands of modern engines, there is a constant need for improved oil additive concentrates to supplement the ability of these oils to protect engines, in view of the rigorous demands made on them by modern motorists. It was an object of my prior invention to provide a novel and improved oil additive concentrate to satisfy this need.
Unexpectedly, I have now discovered that a slight chemical modification (isomerization) of one of the components in the concentrate provides further improved results.